In their article, How Woke Is Coke? Phillip Kotler and Christian Sarkar, rightly pointed, that if Coca Cola would decide to embrace brand activism, probably the best place to start would be with an examination of Coke’s brand conscience by asking a few questions:
- How do we improve our performance regarding childhood obesity?
- How do we reverse our image as the world’s biggest plastic polluter?
- How do we innovate our policies to engage local communities and prevent water crises?
However, the global brand is taking the popular path. According to CNBC, On Friday Coca Cola announced it will be pausing advertising on all social media globally.
CEO and Chairman, James Quincey said, “There is no place for racism in the world and there is no place for racism on social media.” Quincey also stated, “The Coca-Cola Company will pause paid advertising on all social media platforms globally for at least 30 days. We will take this time to reassess our advertising policies to determine whether revisions are needed. We also expect greater accountability and transparency from our social media partners.”
The announcement comes after Unilever, whose brands include Dove, Ben & Jerry’s and Hellmann’s, who said on Friday it will halt advertising on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter in the U.S. at least through Dec. 31.
The company clarified it was not joining the official boycott, but said “we are pausing.”
Wait and see what the customers think about this ‘brave’ decision.
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